Archive

Quotes

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

—Vegetius, c. 385

There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.

—Walter Bagehot, 1863

I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.

—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792

If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone.

—Yoshida Kenko, c. 1330

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

—Niccolò Machiavelli, c. 1515

I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!

—George H. W. Bush, 1990

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

—Al Smith, 1933

The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.

—Herodotus, c. 425 BC

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.

—Laozi

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850

O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.

—Horace, c. 8 BC

You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

—Henrik Ibsen, 1882

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

—Alexander Hamilton, 1787